First Age of Flight
The First Age of Flight 'was a time period that lasted from the founding of Sanctaphrax in the First Great Migration to the invention of varnish by Tweezel in 60 ᴇ.ʏ. It was characterised by the widespread use of sky ships for trade, travel, and warfare. The twin cities of Sanctaphrax and Undertown were the main homes of civilisation during the First Age of Flight. The elite class of this era was comprised mainly of Undertown leaguesmen and Sanctaphrax academics of the fourthling race. However, after stone-sickness struck near the end of the First Age of Flight, everything changed. ''Cloud Wolf, the Quint Trilogy, The Stone Pilot, The Sky Chart, and the Twig Trilogy all took place in the First Age of Flight. Map of the Edge in the First Age of Flight File:Edge.PNG|700px poly 179 211 117 116 179 22 219 120 Sanctaphrax poly 65 62 327 63 278 20 Sanctaphrax poly 260 323 363 256 267 202 181 264 Undertown poly 195 222 217 181 300 176 341 205 Undertown poly 329 229 465 203 545 311 362 334 285 319 367 268 Mire poly 472 201 547 298 646 254 574 175 Twilight Woods poly 405 190 445 165 543 156 587 171 Twilight Woods poly 547 313 744 308 742 207 Edgelands poly 653 251 583 163 721 16 744 198 Deepwoods poly 531 114 564 81 664 74 705 99 Deepwoods poly 727 17 743 16 742 125 Riverrise poly 169 286 80 268 163 229 185 254 Stone Gardens poly 21 233 159 230 135 203 36 216 Stone Gardens poly 63 267 36 455 78 459 81 277 Edgewater River poly 315 24 359 126 523 131 549 19 Open Sky '''Click a place on the map to be taken to its Edge Chronicles Wiki page. Click here for information about ImageMaps and how to create them. History Beginning of the First Age of Flight The First Age of Flight commenced after the First Great Migration where many individuals from the Deepwoods headed east through the Twilight Woods. There they found the Stone Gardens, and the flight rocks that grew there. The utilisation of these rocks for transport purposes led to the First Age of Flight. One of the rocks in the Stone Gardens was far larger than the others. The settlers built the city of Sanctaphrax on this rock, and attached it to the land by the Edgewater River using the chain. These settlers became the First Scholars, the earliest of the academics. Years later, many more people from the Deepwoods emigrated towards Sanctaphrax in search of a better life. They founded the city of Undertown beneath the floating rock. Economy Before Stone-Sickness Before stone-sickness, the Edge’s economy was based on sky ships as the method of transportation and Undertown as the centre of manufactured goods production. Sky ships would journey into the Deepwoods, obtain raw materials, and return to Undertown to sell them for profit. In Undertown, the raw materials would be made into manufactured goods that could not be made in the Deepwoods. However, there were some exceptions to this rule. For example, the slaughterers manufactured their own highly valued leather products in the Deepwoods. The Leagues of Undertown dominated the pre-stone-sickness economy of the Edge. They had near-total control of both shipping of materials and production of goods, enabling them to fix prices. However, they were opposed in this by the sky pirates, who undercut the League’s prices and even raided the League’s ships directly. After Stone-Sickness After the strike of stone-sickness, the economy of the Edge changed drastically. The Great Mire Road was the only trade route left between Undertown and the Deepwoods, the Leagues of Undertown collapsed and lost all economic significance, and the sky pirates were reduced to minor raiders. The shrykes gained new economic significance. They taxed all merchants travelling on the Great Mire Road, and they prohibited direct trade between Undertowners and Deepwooders. By acting as intermediaries, they were able to reap enormous profits from both groups. The Deepwoods remained the source of raw materials, but the Foundry Glades emerged as a large centre of manufacturing in addition to Undertown. Technology Many of the remote settlements in the Deepwoods had very little technology but rather used traditional methods. Undertown and Sanctaphrax however relied on newer technologies and the use of stormphrax. Phrax Use of stormphrax was limited and primitive during the First Age of Flight. It was almost solely used to weight down Sanctaphrax to prevent it from floating away. It was considered sacred by the sky-scholars. However, on two occasions it was used to cure sick cloudeaters and end Endless Winters. During the First Age of Flight, the only method of retrieving stormphrax was stormchasing, so supplies were very low. Phraxdust was undiscovered for most of the First Age of Flight, but Vilnix Pompolnius unwittingly created some in 18 ᴇ.ʏ. The Professor of Light discovered how to create phraxdust later, in 35 ᴇ.ʏ. The only use of phraxdust in the First Age of Flight was to purify the Edgewater River in Undertown, so its citizens could have drinking water despite the pollution of its factories and foundries. Factories and Foundries The Leagues of Undertown controlled the heavy industry in Undertown. The Undertown Foundries was the most industrialized quarter of Undertown. Factories were fuelled by wood from the Deepwoods and were responsible for the pollution of much of the air and the Edgewater River. Toxic waste was either dumped in the Mire, which through the centuries became a muddy wasteland or pumped in the Edgewater River. Flight Technology The Flight-Rocks in Stone Gardens... Scholarship Overview The earliest scholars of the Edge studied the natural phenomena of the Edge. They originally founded and built the floating city of Sanctaphrax. Early on, a minor fraction of scholars began studying the sky and it's phenomena. Two main schools evolved: the sky-scholars and the earth-scholars, or librarians. The latter studied the flora and fauna of the Deepwoods while the former studied the phenomena of the sky. Over time, sky-scholarship became more fashionable and the librarians were violently expelled from Sanctaphrax in the so-called Great Purges. Earth-Scholarship The earth-scholars were librarians tha Fashion wearing their high hats]] Fashion was an important element of life during the First Age of Flight, with clothing making up a large industry in Undertown, as well as in the Deepwoods. The was a huge variety in the kinds of clothing worn by people of different races and professions throughout the Edgeworld. Leaguesmen The leagues were known for their particularly lavish taste in clothing, usually choosing to wear bright, expensive garments to show off their wealth. Their fashionable robes were coloured using costly dyes, and bedecked in jewels. They tended to wear 'high hats'; tall tricorn hats, which showcased their importance. A taller hat meant a more powerful leaguesman. These were also decorated with bright embroidery. Many of these hats were so tall that they needed to be supported by a hat-tipper with a forked hat-pole. This also showed the leaguesman's wealth, because he could afford to pay a servant simply to prop up his hat. Leaguesmen also often carried leagues-canes, staffs that contained a concealed blade. Trivia This was voted to be the favourite age of flight with a 62.5% of the votes by the Edge Chronicles Wiki Voters. Do you agree? More polling results here. Category:Events Category:Concepts Category:First Age of Flight Category:ImageMaps Category:Behind the Scenes